When it comes to the race to become the final PFA Fans` Player of the Month in 2008, the likes of Ronaldo, Fabregas, Anelka and Gerrard are once again in the running. One player currently trying to break up the Fab Four`s monopoly is Manchester City`s all-action midfielder Stephen Ireland. Even though he`s surrounded by expensive, superstar characters like Robinho, Jo and Shaun Wright-Phillips, Ireland has been the club`s outstanding performer this season. Consistently so too, as manager Mark Hughes has pointed out on numerous occasions. Ireland has scored six goals in 16 appearances already this season and continues to impress even though results haven`t been going City`s way of late.

After one recent man-of-the-match performance, Hughes said of Ireland: 'He was outstanding again and he has been in almost every single game he's played in this year. He worked extremely hard in the summer and he came back fit and strong and wanted to be a part of what we're doing here. He`s enjoying his football at the moment and he's having a real impact in every game he plays.'

In the Championship, it`s no surprise to see the top two clubs - Wolves and Birmingham - being well represented on the current leader board with a couple of weeks of voting to go.

Reading`s Kevin Doyle, the division`s leading scorer and a former monthly winner, is also in the frame, along with Crystal Palace keeper Julian Speroni who has helped the Eagles maintain their impressive push for promotion. Veteran striker Kevin Phillips continues to poll plenty of votes, as does Wolves` 14-goal leading scorer Sylvan Ebanks-Blake who, along with the likes of Michael Kightly, has been linked with a possible January move to a Premier League club.

Wolves` boss Mick McCarthy though is not interested in selling off his best assets with a return to the Premier League in the offing, and he said recently: 'I have said that I will tell any club to politely go away, as will the chief executive and the chairman. None of them are going anywhere.'

In Leagues One and Two, the likes of goal aces Matty Fryatt, Neil Harris and Peter Thorne are staking strong claims.

Voting for this month`s award closes at midnight on December 31. Register your vote for the player you think has been the star performer in his respective division this month: www.fansaward.givemefootball.com

About the PFA Fans` Player of the Month Awards

Every month of the football season, four fans who have voted for the divisional winners get the chance to present the PFA Fans` Player of the Month Award to their football hero on the pitch at a home game. One of the yearly fan winners will be invited to the prestigious PFA Player of the Year Awards dinner.

The awards are endorsed by the players and supported by the Premiership, Championship, League One and League Two clubs and The Fans Supporters Federation. The PFA's commitment to this award confirms the organisation's belief that fans, as well as players, are the lifeblood of the game.